Computing and communication networks typically include devices, such as routers, switches or gateways, which transfer or switch data, such as packets, from one or more sources to one or more destinations. A network switch or router, in particular, may include a networking device that connects network segments and computing devices.
Different network subnets in a network may be logically partitioned into, for example, a local area network (LAN) or virtual LAN (VLAN). Members of a particular subnet may use an agreed upon set of protocols to communicate with one another. Gateway devices may act as interfaces between subnets and may convert protocols between the different network subnets.
To minimize the likelihood of failure of a gateway device, a redundant set of gateway devices may be used, in which the set of gateway devices may include a number of physical gateway devices that operate as a single logical gateway device. When one of the physical gateway devices fails, a backup gateway device in the redundant set may assume the gateway functions that were being performed by the failed device. Ideally, the switchover operation between the failed gateway device and the backup gateway device should be as transparent as possible to the rest of the subnet.
To coordinate the operation of the logical gateway device, control traffic may be periodically communicated between the redundant set of gateway devices. For example, for gateway devices in a VLAN RVI (routed VLAN interface), multicast packets may be used to periodically broadcast, to other device in the VLAN, control traffic that includes status information relating to the redundant set of gateway devices. To maximize performance of the network, it may be desirable to minimize the amount of control traffic.